<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Marriage Seal by Silverlyte</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752431">The Marriage Seal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverlyte/pseuds/Silverlyte'>Silverlyte</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Silverlyte's Sabriel Oneshots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Light Angst, M/M, Selkie Gabriel (Supernatural)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:54:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752431</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverlyte/pseuds/Silverlyte</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You dropped your coat. Here, let me just-" </p><p>His coat. </p><p>Gabriel has all of a moment to register its absence from the back of his chair. For the panic to twist up inside of him, as icy and treacherous as an ocean storm; its wave crashing down on top of him, driving the breathe from his lungs, leaving him stunned and sinking. </p><p>In that short span of time, all he can think is he is going to drown - though not via the tides. </p><p>No. The water is a safety he cannot reach, nor will he ever again. A life stripped away from him. A freedom that will taunt him from afar. </p><p>--- Aka Gabriel is a Selkie, and Sam just accidentally became engaged to him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gabriel/Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Silverlyte's Sabriel Oneshots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Marriage Seal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>~I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters. Do not post to another site or translate.~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>The Marriage Seal</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"You dropped your coat. Here, let me just-" <br/><br/></p><p>
  <em>His coat. </em>
</p><p><br/>Gabriel has all of a moment to register its absence from the back of his chair. For the panic to twist up inside of him, as icy and treacherous as an ocean storm; its wave crashing down on top of him, driving the breathe from his lungs, leaving him stunned and sinking. </p><p><br/>In that short span of time, all he can think is he is going to drown - though not via the tides. </p><p><br/>No. The water is a safety he cannot reach, nor will he ever again. A life stripped away from him. A freedom that will taunt him from afar. </p><p><br/>It makes no difference that the ocean is the very blood that dashes through his veins. That it is the salt on his skin, and the itch that calls to him when he is gone too long. It doesn't matter that the ocean is the mother to their kind; fierce and protective, always eager to embrace her children, to show them her wonders and kindness.</p><p><br/>Here, she has no power. No means to save him. And even if he were to return to her now, to stand in her shallows and feel her caress around his ankles, she could do no more than mourn his loss with him. <br/><br/><br/>Without his pelt, he will be trapped. </p><p><br/>He will drown on the land. Suffocated by the memories of the corals he grew up playing around, the sand dollars and pretty shells he spent his youth collecting, the favored brother he had left behind. He will be choked by the desire to return home, and for a shape he cannot take.  <br/><br/><br/>Pieces of him will die here, rotting from the inside out, until there is nothing left of him- </p><p><br/>"There you-" </p><p><br/>A single moment. </p><p><br/>That is all he has before the man who is meant to be his captor, the one who is supposed to take everything that he is and lock it away, is rising from where he had knelt on the wooden floor, grey pelt held in his hands. Before the same man, with a kind smile and a pleasant tone, is turning towards him.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <em>He knows. He knows. He knows. </em>
</p><p><br/>He must, because the man hesitates when he looks at him, his mouth parted and his eyes spreading wide. It's brief, the meeting of their gazes, but it's enough to send Gabriel cringing back, his elbow bumping the edge of his table. <br/><br/></p><p>
  <em>He knows. </em>
</p><p><br/>The stranger's mouth parts wider, his weight shifting from one foot to the other. When no words come out, he seems to deflate, shoulders hunching down-<br/><br/></p><p>And then he's returning it to the back of his chair. "Uh- there you go." </p><p><br/>He pats it, once and absent. </p><p><br/>Gabriel can only gape at him. </p><p><br/>In return, he smiles at him, a little too wide, revealing dimples that are quickly hidden behind the duck of his head. Dark, floppy hair tumbling forward to shield his eyes as he excuses himself. He slides behind his chair, nearly bumps into a passing waiter when he glances back over his shoulder at Gabriel. </p><p><br/>Gabriel stares after him, and then at the front entrance of the restaurant when the door closes behind him. </p><p><br/>It isn't until he has long been gone that his attention turns to his pelt. Twisting towards his table, the half eaten meal a top it forgotten, he pulls it into his lap. Traces his fingers where the man's hands had been. </p><p><br/>Slowly, his lips draw into a smile. </p><p><br/>He's never... heard of a human giving them back their skin. </p><p><br/>All the stories he's ever heard... he had always been warned that if a human managed to get a hold of your pelt, they would steal it and hide it away. You would have no choice but to wed them. To become their slave or the bearer of their children or, in some cases, they would sell you off instead. <br/><br/><br/>Regardless of their intention, A Selkie could not go home until they found and adorned their lost skin. And if they were somehow destroyed... it was a thought Gabriel couldn't bear to consider. </p><p><br/>But this human. He <em>had</em> returned it. Without asking for anything at all. Without a single demand. </p><p><br/>In the span of a few breathes, he had held Gabriel's whole life, everything that he was. <br/><br/><br/>And he'd given it back. Just like that. <br/><br/></p><p>In a way, he had even saved it. If it hadn't been him, another could have come along. They could have been the one to pick it up, and they could have made a very different choice. </p><p><br/>And the smile he had given... the shyness that followed. <br/><br/></p><p>Where, mere minutes ago, there had been terror, warmth settles. It rose in his cheeks too, his heart much too quick in his chest. Little minnows swarm his stomach, and make his mouth curve up a little more. </p><p><br/>His fingers furrow and hold tight onto the skin, pulling it up to burrow his nose against. The traces of the man's scent greeted him, faint but present. </p><p><br/>That was all he needed. A scent. </p><p><br/>It wouldn't do to lose his fiance, after all. <br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>As it turns out, his betrothal's name is <em>Sam</em>!</p><p><br/>A revelation that comes about when he stuffs the velvet box into his hands, relishing in his wide eyed look as he stares down at the ring inside. Leaning back onto the balls of his feet, Gabriel grins up at him. "Seems only fair we do this the human way too,"</p><p><br/>He hadn't realized just how tall he was, back when they'd been in the restaurant. Now, standing together on the beach, he has to crane his neck to catch the sharp intake of his breath. To see the moment in which his eyes flick to him - and oh, he hadn't noticed the gold in them either. </p><p><br/>Hadn't registered just how attractive he was. </p><p><br/>He's never wanted to climb someone like a tree before, but he's certainly willing to try <em>now</em>. </p><p><br/>"Dude, is that an <em>onion ring</em>?" There's another man, one he doesn't recognize; he moves to stand closer next to his fiance, bowing his head in to squint at the box. The pale sand and salty wind wafting in around them muffle the sounds of his steps, but his voice is loud and amused. </p><p><br/>When he reaches for the box, Gabriel's fiance tugs it away from him, huddles it in against his chest as if it's something to be guarded. <br/><br/></p><p>It makes Gabriel preen, his shoulders hitching up. "You try getting a ring after dark." It's the best kind of ring, if you ask him. He's never quite grasped the obsession humans seem to have with metal circles. "I hadn't exactly been planning on getting engaged tonight."<br/><br/><br/>But oh, boy, does he not regret it.</p><p><br/>Not only is his fiance a hunk of <em>yes please</em> - and Gabriel hasn't even gotten a chance to check out the goods in the back yet but he's betting it's just as delicious as the front view - but there's something about his scent too. There's a wildness to it, with an undertone of sweetness. </p><p><br/>He doesn't know how to describe it; he's never been any further on land than the restaurants on the coast, has never needed to go beyond where he can find a slice of pie or cake. But it's mouth watering and alluring all the same. A part of him wants to burrow his nose against him and breath him in. To drag his tongue and teeth across his skin. </p><p><br/>Feel his pulse beneath his mouth, taste the heat of his cheeks; a redness he can just barley make out in the flickering light cast on them by the array of tiki torches planted along the length of the beach. He wants to capture his scent, memorize it.  </p><p><br/>The longer he stands there, the more he wants to feel his hands on his skin, too, under his shirt. For the same warmth he'd left traces of behind on his pelt to be left behind on him too. </p><p><br/>"Engaged?" The other man is asking, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed when he peers up, "What's he talking about, Sam?"</p><p>
  <br/>
  <em>Sam. <br/><br/><br/>His name was Sam! </em>
</p><p><br/><em>"</em>Samshine, over here, rescued my pelt." Even saying it rouses awe in his chest, stirs the same warmth. </p><p><br/>Sam blinks over at him. Glances back down between his hands. Opens his mouth. Closes it. "Rescued your-" There's a crease between his brows when he looks up again, eyes landing on the pelt that has been fastened around Gabriel's waist. There's another blink. A noise in the back of this throat before he's blurting out, "You're a selkie!"</p><p><br/>"Gabe's the name, Selkie's the game!" Leaning in closer, Gabriel wiggles his brows at him. "And I'd be delighted to show you my pelt's true form. This - it's just a disguise to blend in with all you humans and your 'hoodies'. You could say it's a <em>grower</em> and not a shower."<br/><br/><br/>"Woa, hold on- is this <em>the</em> guy?!" The other man demands, which <em>rude, </em>he was trying to flirt there. There's a shift in the guy's expression as he looks between them. A sudden understanding that gives away to heaving laughter that quickly has him doubling over, bracing his hands against his knees. <br/><br/></p><p>Sam glares at him, his lips pursed into a thin line. "Dean." When the laughter continues, he reaches over and thumps him hard enough on the back that Dean stumbles forward a step. It doesn't dissuading the laughter at all. If anything, it makes him laugh harder until his shoulders shake and he's gasping for air. <br/><br/></p><p>When it finally dies down, he's grinning. "I spend the whole goddamn afternoon listening to you pouting 'bout you finding 'my true mate, Dean'" Still snickering, he manages to side step away from a second thump, points an accusing finger at Gabriel, "And he's proposing!" </p><p><br/>It's a lot. <br/><br/><br/>That one sentence. </p><p><br/>And he gets stuck on the part where Sam was pouting over him, and did that mean he was upset that he hadn't stayed with him at the restaurant, that they hadn't spoken, so much as exchanged names? Did he find him just as delicious-</p><p><br/>Or did it mean that he didn't want him? <br/><br/><br/>Was that... was that why he'd given him back his pelt? </p><p><br/>Not because he was a good person. Not because he hadn't wanted to imprison him. Not because he meant to propose.</p><p><br/>But because he looked at Gabriel, had seen him, the smallest seal in his family, the only one who came to shore, and deemed him unworthy of stealing? Of locking away? </p><p><br/>There is a bitterness on the back of his tongue. Heat behind his eyes, and he doesn't know why; he'd never even thought of taking on a mate before, let alone a stupid, fragile human, with its inability to properly swim and its short lifespan, and its- its <em>meanness</em>.<br/><br/><br/>He should have <em>known</em>. <br/><br/><br/>He'd heard all the stories. Why had he even come looking for him? Why had he thought this was a good idea? </p><p><br/>Stupid. It was stupid. </p><p><br/>In front of him, Sam flinches. He looks pained, his eyes wider than when he'd first seen the ring but there's no pleasure to be taken by it this time. It only confirms Gabriel's thoughts, and he's going to be sick. He can feel it, dread rising in his throat like bile. It's not enough that he doesn't want him - does he have to look so wounded by the notion? <br/><br/><br/>When Gabriel starts to back up, Sam stiffens. "Dean- Dean, <em>shut up</em>." His voice is sharp, and then Dean's watching him too. Is lifting his hands, saying, "Hey, buddy-" </p><p><br/>But Gabriel doesn't care. It's all a joke to him, anyways, isn't it? Laughter borne from the ridiculousness of his proposal? Of thinking this Sam person would <em>want</em> to be engaged. </p><p><br/>He turns - not for the buildings and lights, but for the ocean. Towards safety and freedom, and maybe this time he will have learned his lesson. He will stay under the water, and leave the curiosity of the land with all its desserts for some other fool-</p><p><br/>The hand that catches his arm makes him whirl around, makes the sinking weight in his chest steel into unexpected rage-</p><p><br/>He doesn't expect to be met with the concern that he is. Sam's eyes are big and sad, and he swears they had been darker before, that the gold in them had been no more than thin rings around his pupils. Now, there is nothing but that gold, the shade and warmth of clouded honey. </p><p><br/>He doesn't expect the whine either. The one that rises in Sam's throat. He blinks at him, rage ebbing into confusion because humans-</p><p><br/>Humans don't make those noises. </p><p><br/>And he's pretty sure their eyes don't change colors either. </p><p><br/>"You're... not human." </p><p><br/>Sam does his impression of a fish before he settles on shaking his head. "We're uh - we're werewolves. I didn't- true mates doesn't have to mean anything for you- it's okay! Really! And you don't have to marry me just because I gave you back your coa- pelt. I wouldn't force you into anything." <br/><br/><br/>Gabriel blinks at him again. So he... wasn't upset that they were... mates?<br/><br/></p><p>Wait. They were mates?!<br/><br/></p><p>"I would have told you but you looked terrified, and I hadn't realized you were a Se-"</p><p>
  <em><br/>Oh. </em>
</p><p><br/>But he'd- ... he hadn't know. Of course he hadn't. Why else would he have seems so baffled before? Why else would he have announced Gabriel as a selkie? </p><p><br/>Did that mean-</p><p><br/>"Is that a yes than?" <br/><br/></p><p>There's a moment's confusion and then Sam is smiling at him, all dimples and sunshine, and sea gods, he's got to stop showing those off, or else waiting until their wedding night is going to be a major problem- "Yeah. Yeah it is."</p><p><br/>Dean fake gags when they kiss, soft and sweet and far too brief for all the dirty things Gabriel wants to do to him-</p><p><br/>He supposes he has a whole lifetime to get to those, though. </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>